The Impact of *HNS Domingo

"That sure is a feisty little pony you've got there, lady!" With those words, the horse transport driver informed me that our Peruvian Paso stallion was on his way to our farm in California. I responded rather coolly, "he's not a pony, he's a Peruvian Paso stallion." I realized that I was speaking with someone accustomed to handling 16+ hand Thoroughbreds rather than the more compact Peruvian Pasos and that his comments were meant as the highest form of praise. My initial reserve softened and I listened with amusement to his colorful tale of our stallion's somewhat spectacular exit from the Florida quarantine station.

THE AIR OF A STALLION

It seemed that our Peruvian stallion, *HNS Domingo, having been called upon to service mares on demand on an almost daily basis during the months prior to his departure from Peru, had assumed that he was on his way to breed a mare when he was led out of quarantine for the first time in more than a week. He was eager and more than ready to provide his services to the first horse he saw, which, unfortunately, happened to be a gelding. Taking everyone by surprise and to the tremendous amusement of the onlookers, he greeted the gelding with an ear splitting stallion call and a full courting display, including (I was told), a breathtaking dance and evidence of virility in full flower. After ascertaining that the other horse was not a lovely mare, Domingo looked so comically crestfallen and disappointed that the driver said he sorely wished he could have found a mare for the stallion. The driver, a wizened elder cowboy, went on to tell me how very impressed he was with this exotic young stallion he was delivering to us; how he was taken by the stallion's self-confidence and alert, friendly demeanor and the noticeable deference accorded to him by the other horses on the transport. He had noticed an exceptional fluidity and efficiency in the way he moved and wanted to know if that was a quality typical of the breed.

FOND MEMORIES

In considering the impact *HNS Domingo has had on our lives and the breed in general, that episode came to mind because it illustrates some characteristics which I believe to be relevant to any consideration of stallions. When I am asked about Domingo, my first thought always turn to his very unique and warm personality and its effect on people. I reflect on how many new and good friends he has brought us over the past thirteen years, how vigorous and vibrant and how full of joy he has always seemed, and how we have always admired and appreciated his grace and nobility. The second thing that comes to mind is how very easy he has made the task of operating a large breeding operation due to his tremendous and legendary vigor.

In Peru, among the horse breeders with whom my husband was raised, and where *HNS Domingo was born and grew up, it is a matter of both pride and practicality to own stallions of intense virility. In the almost total absence of artificial insemination, it was an absolute necessity to breeders that one's stallions be able to perform regularly and dependably, and therefore stallions of great masculinity were most highly valued. It may be said that *HNS Domingo is legendary in this arena.
Once, at an annual festival in Ica, Peru, at which many breeders had exhibited their prized Peruvian horses, *HNS Domingo's breeder, Hugo Nieto Suarez, accepted a challenge from a group of mare owners to breed their five mares to Domingo within one twenty-four hour period. The challenge was twofold: to actually service the mares and to impregnate them. To Se¤or Nieto's great pride, Domingo met the challenge - five mares were serviced within twenty hours, and five beautiful foals were born the following year to the clever challengers' mares!

THE STAMP OF A REAL SIRE

More important than the purely practical matters to do with breeding, however, is that, as a sire, Domingo has proven to be a stallion referred to within the Peruvian breed as a raziador. When referring to a stallion as a raziador, one means that he has the ability to sire a high percentage of offspring which are as good or better than himself and the dam, and one which uniformly transmits the desirable qualities and attributes unique to breed type. In the Peruvian Paso breed, this means a stallion which uniformly passes on the precise paso llano gait, brio, stamina, and breed type to his get. In the modern history of the breed, there have been very few stallions, including *HNS Domingo, that are considered to be true raziadors. As a result of Domingo's rare abilities as a raziador, his get have virtually dominated national competition in the United States for many years. Two of his sons alone have won an astonishing eight out of the last twelve possible U.S. National Champion of Champions Breeding Stallion titles from 1989 to the present, the title considered to be the highest level of achievement in the Peruvian Paso breed. RDS Me Llamo Peru++ has achieved highest possible honor as the U.S. National Laureado Breeding Stallion of both North American breed organizations and his younger half-brother RDS Don Diego de la Vega is following in his footsteps by winning two U.S. National Champion of Champions Breeding Stallion titles in the last three years.

Sr. Eduardo Peschiera recalls one of the most memorable shows that he had officiated. "As the judge of the 1991 Los Amigos Championship Show, I had the opportunity to compare *HNS Domingo, then 17 years old, with three of his sons in the Champion of Champions competition for breeding stallions. After I had asked that Domingo be ridden in line behind one of his sons, his competitive spirit and brio suddenly made him look ten years younger, bursting with energy. A while later, in the runoff against his three sons, there was no question as to who was the best horse. With his legendary ability to carry the paso llano to a top speed, he easily walked away from all his competitors.

"Domingo's rare ability to complement or enhance upon mares of exceptionally diverse types and pedigrees has resulted in the production of the highest number and percentage of Champion offspring of any stallion in the United States within the modern history of the breed. As a result of the increased availability of champion quality horses, Domingo has also made a significant contribution to the economy of the breed. His daughters are highly valued as breeding stock in many Peruvian Paso owners' breeding programs. Fine mares like RDS La Quesadilla, RDS Lunareja, RDLF Celene, RDS La Cantina, HDV A¤ada, RDS Dominga and JOR Fiesta de Onrubia, all with long successful show records, are contributing to Domingo's legacy. It is estimated that total revenues to breeders from sales of Domingo's offspring and stud services worldwide have surpassed the one million dollar mark.

EXCEPTIONAL GAIT

Domingo's greatest impact, however, has been to spotlight and reemphasize in modern times the importance of the unique paso llano gait of the original Breed Standard. Remember that the Peruvian Paso breed was developed with only one function in mind and that is to be the smoothest, most comfortable, efficient, heartiest, and most enjoyable riding horse in the world. In order to fulfill that function, it must be very well-gaited, strong and noble, and it must cover the optimum distance with each sequence of footfalls. To enable it to cover the utmost distance in gait, it must drive forward and support more weight with its rear legs, freeing the front legs to perform its trademark lift and termino. A nearly perfect balance contributes to *HNS Domingo's ability to perform the movements necessary to achieve the Peruvian Paso signature paso llano gait with the utmost fluidity and grace and makes him one of the smoothest horses of his breed in the world.

Aficionados of the Peruvian Paso and admirers of *HNS Domingo have for many years applauded the fact that he is not just a pampered show horse and breeding stallion but, true to the heritage of the breed, a real working riding horse. "It has always been an uplifting experience for me to see Domingo being ridden down the road, into the Santa Ynez River bed, through the vineyards and up the mountain trails by one of his trainers to keep him in good condition.
Many times, when visiting Rancho Domingo, my first impression was of Domingo being ridden through the fields along the road leading to the ranch," remembers one frequent visitor. Having been in regular, and at times heavy use as a riding horse since he was four years old, he is still being ridden on the trail regularly at the age of 21, and has never been shod.

UNFORGETTABLE SHOW PERFORMANCE

His international show career has been spectacular and is unsurpassed by any other stallion. His gait is so close to perfection that he reigned, undefeated, as Best Gaited Horse over dozens of shows on both regional and national levels from 1982 until show rules dictated his retirement with honors from the National Gait Division in the late 80's, after having become the first and only National Laureado Best Gaited Horse of Show. He also won numerous Regional Breeding Stallion titles and was twice National Reserve Champion Breeding Stallion and the 1987 U.S. National Champion Breeding Stallion. He has also won ten National Get of Sire Awards since 1985, proving his reputation as a great sire. "His performance at the 1987 U.S. National Show is unforgettable," remembers Heinz Reusser, Chairman of the show. "After winning the gait and breeding stallion classes, finishing the Prueba Functional, winning the Champion Breeding Stallion class and performing in the Champion of Champions stallion competition, he returned to the arena late that evening to compete for the title of Best Gaited Horse of Show. With arrogance and electrifying brio, and with the standing ovation of 3000 aficionados, he won this highly coveted award with great elegance and looking as fresh as before the show."

In the early 1980's, it was common that a Peruvian Paso stallion would begin a Breeding Division show career at the age of four and be retired from showing by age seven or eight. Domingo made his show debut at the 1981 Peruvian National Show at the age of seven, winning First Place in the Stallions Gait Class. He stunned the crowd when he proceeded to cover so much ground in the elegant slow paso llano gait that he lapped the entire contingent of horses in the very large arena three times, finishing in first position. The most important aspect of Domingo's thrilling debut performance was his ability to easily achieve the greatest degree of advance in the paso llano, and maintaining this gait throughout the competition without having to fall into the faster sobreandando. The display of dazzling efficiency and comfort of the paso llano gait served to reemphasize the beauty and importance of this gait which is unique in the equine world only to the Peruvian Paso breed. The basis for the foundation of the Peruvian Paso breed was the slow and elegant performance of the unique paso llano gait, indicated by a horse magnificently collected, with neck arched, face forward, three legs on the ground and one front leg in the air, "writing his name in the sky," as exemplified in this article by the photo of *HNS Domingo being ridden by owner Raul del Solar. I believe that *HNS Domingo's legacy shall be that he and his get served to renew and preserve appreciation for the unique and astonishingly beautiful natural paso llano gait of the Peruvian Paso horse.

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